Perhaps the Runnin’ Utes hope some home cooking will help continue their impressive play.
Utah is coming off of four big road wins and returning to the Huntsman Center for a brief stint against the University of Oregon.
The Utes are excited for the opportunity to play the Ducks, who are coming off of recent losses to No. 1 North Carolina and No. 6 Texas in the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
“It’s a good game for us, to get us national publicity,” said Ute center Luke Nevill. “Which is good for Utah, and it’s great for us as well8212;our seniors getting seen by everybody.”
The Utes return home from a win in their first true road game against Missouri State in the JQH Arena. The Utes are 3-0 on the road this season and handed Missouri State its first loss in its new arena.
The Utes have benefited from their bench play this season, outscoring their opponents’ benches 114-56. The main reasons for the success are pulling guard Tyler Kepkay and forward Shaun Green off the bench this season, a move that head coach Jim Boylen is being praised for.
Last season, the Utes and Ducks faced off in Eugene, Ore., a game the Ducks won 75-64. At that time the Ducks were ranked No. 19 in the country with a 7-1 record.
“We’re trying to get them back for last year,” said Ute guard Carlon Brown. “We felt like we could have won that game, so this year, we are going to come out with the aggression to win.”
The last time the Utes played the Ducks in Utah was Dec. 6, 1990, in a game the Utes won 95-81.
The series record between the teams is 7-7 with 10 of those games played away from Utah. When the teams do meet on the Huntsman Center’s hardwood, the Utes have the advantage with a 3-1 record.
Nevill said the player to watch out for in this game is Tajuan Porter, who is averaging 12 points per game. Porter is a fairly good 3-point shooter, making 33 percent on 14-for-42 shooting from behind the arc.
“Porter’s their main guy, the guy that drives and hits threes,” Nevill said. “We just have to make him shoot what coach said is the “long twos’8212;the shot just inside the three8212;’cause he doesn’t really shoot those.”
For Oregon, taking on two top 10 teams during the Thanksgiving break was a tall order for a team that is ranked No. 7 in the Pac. 10. Its first loss came Nov. 25 against the Tar Heels by a score of 98-69. Michael Dunigan put up 18 points for the Ducks and is leading the team in scoring this season with 14 points per game.
The Ducks’ next loss came against the No. 6 Longhorns, 70-57.
The Ducks are not afraid to take a shot from beyond the arc this season, which is what killed the Utes in their only loss this season against Southwest Baptist. In the six games the Ducks have played, 138 of their 367 shots have been 3-pointers.
“We’ve been working on our closeouts, making sure we contest all the shots,” Brown said. “(We’re) trying to stay home on shooters and make them drive around us and see if they can make plays over our big men.”
Nailing shots from the charity stripe has killed the Ducks this season. They are shooting 64 percent overall. The Utes, on the other hand, are shooting 77 percent from the free throw line, which could be a major factor in this contest.
“We’re definitely a better foul shooting team,” Nevill said. “It’s just a matter of getting to the line and getting the foul shots to begin with.”
Tyler CobbUtah is coming off of four big road wins and returning to the Huntsman Center for a brief stint against the University of Oregon.